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→Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit
There is also a temporary health insurance tax credit available to firms with 25 or fewer employees and making less than $50,000 in annual wages, but many firms do not meet the strict requirements necessary for obtaining the tax credit that would cover up to 50% of employer contributions to employees' health insurance premiums (up to 35% for tax-exempt employers):
**Firms must employ fewer than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees**Average employee salary of $50,000 per year or less (adjusted for 2014 inflation rates)**Employer coverage of at least 50% of all FTE employees' premium costs **Coverage for FTE employees' Qualified Health Plans must be purchased through the SHOP Marketplace**Only employers with 10 or fewer FTE with annual wages of less than $10,000 can qualify for the full tax credit ( "the smaller the business, the bigger the credit" [https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop-coverage/small-business-tax-credits//]) (After 2014, the maximum credit amount increases from 35% to 50% of employers' share of premiums**Employers cannot claim the tax credit for more than two consecutive and taxable years (starting in the first taxable year after 2014)
The health insurance tax credit became available to firms in 2014 [http://obamacarefacts.com/insurance-exchange/shop-exchange/]. The tax credit is quite under-inclusive, and according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, only one in three small businesses qualify [http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st356]. Of the estimated 1.4 to 4 million small businesses that were eligible for the wide range of tax credits, only 181,000 actually claimed the Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit in 2014.
